Selenium derivatives as cancer preventive agents.

The role of selenium in the prevention of cancer has been recently established by laboratory experiments, clinical trials, and epidemiological data. Most of the effects are related to the function of selenium in antioxidant enzyme systems. Animal data, epidemiological data, and intervention trials have shown a clear role for selenium derivatives in both prevention of specific cancers and antitumorigenic effects in postinitiation phases of cancer. Consequently, selenium supplementation has moved from the realm of correcting nutritional deficiencies to one of pharmacological intervention, especially in the clinical domain of cancer chemoprevention. Accordingly, there has been substantial interest directed toward the synthesis of selenium-containing derivatives in recent years that could be used as cancer chemopreventive agents. The current review aims to outline recent developments in the application of selenium derivatives as cancer preventive agents.